By Shane Stokes
Irish riders continued their build-up to the Paralympic Games in recent days, with 11 riders competing in the track world championships in Rio, Brazil.
Paralympic gold medalists Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal were the most experienced of the riders. They had taken bronze in the women’s tandem individual pursuit in Glasgow last August but narrowly missed out on the same medal this time around.
Fourth in qualifying, they were initially faster than their Polish rivals in the bronze medal final on Saturday but lost out there by just 0.31 of second.
The duo were also close in two other events, netting fifth in the tandem 1km TT on Thursday and 6th in the tandem sprint on Sunday.
The road events are their stronger suit and they will aim to shine in the Paracycling Games in August and September.
Fellow tandem duo Josephine Healion and Linda Kelly had their best showing of the championships in the individual pursuit, netting 7th.
They were also 11th in both the 1km TT and the tandem sprint, gaining important experience for the future as a pairing.
MC4 rider Ronan Grimes lined out hoping for a repeat of his two world championship bronze medals last year. This time around he was sixth in Friday’s scratch race and seventh in the individual pursuit.
He was also 12th in the 1km TT and 16th in the 200 metre flying start, ultimately finishing seventh in the Omnium.
WC3 rider Richael Timothy was fifth in the WC3 Omnium, her 132 points leaving her just six off a bronze medal. She was fourth in the WC 200 metres flying start, fifth in both the scratch race and individual pursuit and sixth in the 500 metre TT.
Chris Burns finished sixth in the MC2 Omnium, having taken a fine third in the 200m flying start round, sixth in both the 1km TT and scratch race and 9th in the individual pursuit.
Male tandem pairings Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen plus Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin completed the 11 rider team, and landed three top ten performances between them.
Gordon and Mullen were a solid 5th in the sprint and 6th in the 1km TT. Vereker and McLaughlin were ninth in the individual pursuit and 15th in the 1km TT.
The world championships play an important part in qualification for the Paralympic Games in Paris this summer.
The Paralympic track events run between August 29th and September 1st. The road events will then follow between September 4th and 7th.
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